Shifting

by Shifting (anth. )(Rob Knight Editor)(Torquere)(lit)

  Soon he was going to throw Feris down and simply hump him to death.

  Finally Anneal played the last of his dice. He stood, putting water on to heat, and began stripping off his clothes. Feris raised his head, growling softly, whiskers twitching. Difficult though it was, he ignored Feris entirely, taking up his cloth and scrubbing himself lightly. His nipples hardened unbearably beneath the cloth, his cock rising.

  Feris growled again and got up, began pacing around him, waiting for the soap to be washed away -- the big cat had learned that lesson the hard way. The bath was worth drawing out, because it would give Feris a bit of what he had suffered of late. Anneal washed his belly and thighs, then stroked the cloth over his shaft and balls, moaning as he did so.

  He saw the great flanks quiver, Feris' nostrils flaring.

  The last straw, he hoped, was what he did next, which was clean off the soap, then moisten the cloth once more and reach behind, cleaning himself thoroughly. Feris roared and pounced, knocking him down, tongue licking aggressively.

  He laughed, wiggling happily. Thank goodness. He was whole again, and strong, and it was good to feel Feris atop him.

  Feris growled and kept licking, thoroughly "cleaning" him of the smell of soap.

  "Feris..." the rough touch of that tongue made him crazed, bringing his need to a fever pitch. "Please."

  That rough tongue focused on his shaft, his balls, Feris' purrs adding another vibrating caress.

  Oh. Oh yes. But no. He needed. "Feris, no." Anneal pushed the big head away, rolling up to his knees. "I need you in me."

  The big cat growled unhappily, but morphed. Feris looked at him, need in the golden eyes. "No?"

  "Oh, love. Not no. Just... what I need is not your mouth." Feeling like an utter wanton, Anneal took to his hands and knees, legs parting, ass rising. "Please."

  Feris moaned, hands sliding over his legs, his backside. "An neal... I want."

  "Yes. Oh, yes." Shivers worked up Anneal's spine. So many things his Feris made him want. "I am well. There is no need to be gentle, I swear it."

  Feris growled and suddenly his asscheeks were being held apart and Feris was licking him. He all but screamed, every nerve in his body on fire. "Feris!"

  Feris purred, tongue sliding into him, wetting him.

  "Oh! Oh." The sound became long and drawn out, pure pleasure and need. His legs opened wider, his head dipped, resting on his arms, and Anneal gave himself wholly to Feris. His lover.

  Feris loved him long and well with an agile tongue, making him moan and beg and then beg some more.

  Finally, when he was dripping with his lover's saliva, Feris shifted, kneeling close behind him. He could feel the blunt heat of Feris' shaft pressing against his opening.

  "Yes. Feris, yes." Desperate, Anneal pushed back, forcing Feris inside, opening easily to the thick heat. So long desired. So needed.

  Feris moaned and sank deep, hands stroking along his sides. Rocking, moaning, Anneal took Feris in as far as he could, feeling the warm skin of Feris' hips and pelvis against his buttocks and thighs. Head down, hanging between his shoulders, Anneal panted for it, begged for it, feeling whole.

  Feris growled and grabbed his hips, starting a fast, hard rhythm. That thick shaft rubbed insistently inside him, setting his nerves ablaze, and Anneal let Feris take him out of himself, losing himself to the force of their thrusts. They moved so hard together that his knees scraped along the floor of the cave. Feris was grunting with effort, moaning and crying out.

  So close. So very close was he to the edge of the precipice that Anneal could feel the first twinges of it at the base of his spine. If he could only just... but he could not get a hand free, or he would fall. "Feris. Please. Touch me."

  Feris growled, leaning forward to wrap a hand around his prick. The angle of his lover's thrusts changed, where before Feris had nudged his gland, now the thick shaft inside him nailed it.

  Anneal simply screamed, head coming up as his back arched, shaking with the force of it as his seed spilled into Feris' waiting hand. He could no longer feel his arms, and Feris strong hold was the only thing keeping him upright as his lover continued to thrust.

  Then it was Feris' turn, his lover roaring and heat filling him deep.

  Thankfully, Feris caught them as the started to tip, controlling their fall so he gained no more bruises. As it was, they went down together, Feris wrapped about him, surrounding him with the unique scent of his half-cat man.

  "Mmm. Love."

  Soft nibbles were spread out over his shoulders, Feris holding him tight. "Love An neal."

  "Yes. Needed you, Feris." The itch was gone, and he was utterly sated. Feris was an addiction.

  Feris squeezed him tighter and began to purr.

  By the looks of things, Feris was convinced he was quite recovered. And as soon as his body was solid again, rather than melted goo, he would have Feris try him again. Just to be sure.

  ~Chapter Twenty Three~

  Stop.

  Look back.

  Man far behind.

  Man go slow.

  Slower and slower.

  Man not happy.

  Man not want to go.

  Growl.

  Silly man.

  Run to man.

  Rub against legs.

  Feris morphed, standing close to An neal.

  "We do not have to go."

  It was the same argument every year.

  "I do." It was the same answer every year as well.

  "It makes you sad to go. Makes you hurt." He stroked his hand over An neal's heart. "I do not like it when you hurt."

  "Oh, Feris. I hate that I make you leave our home every year. But I must." He got a soft kiss to his cheek and a smile. "Besides, it keeps me strong, all of the walking."

  Feris snorted. "Himself would run with you to make you strong and I do not care where we live. My home is you."

  An neal turned and gave him a true kiss, mouth on mouth, his smile blinding. "I know. I love you."

  "Oh. I love you as well, An neal." He returned the smile and the kiss, body enjoying the touches. He would touch An neal some more before he had to be only himself. Himself was good but sometimes he liked to be able to feel with skin and to be inside An neal, which himself could not do.

  "Mmmm." An neal kissed and touched, making happy sounds, always so happy to be with him and to hold him and pet him.

  The grasses were tall here, which would make a good bed for them to lie on and he went to his knees, pulling An neal down with him.

  A surprised laugh came from An neal, but his man did not argue, only put strong arms around him and held tight.

  He pushed An neal to his back, following, pressing against his man as they kissed.

  "Feris! Oh, love." An neal petted his hair and back, legs spreading to cradle him. "Yes, please."

  He purred, bending to take An neal's neck into his mouth, only managing to bite a small section, but it was his mark nonetheless.

  "Oh. Oh!" His man knew what that meant by now, and it made Anneal's hot and hard twitch against him.

  He purred and then growled, making the mark as dark as he could without being himself. The stupid men of An neal's father's city would know that An neal was his.

  Every touch of his lips and teeth made An neal moan and rub and beg, their bodies knowing each other so well now that they fit perfectly together.

  It was only a matter of pulling the right leather tie and An neal's coverings opened to him, letting them rub together belly to belly.

  He wanted inside though, needed to fill his man with his seed, as they would not be able to enjoy that pleasure until this stupid task was again over for another year.

  "Feris. In me? Please?" His man knew him too well, knew what he needed. He spat onto his fingers and pushed two into An neal, making his man open and ready.

  Crying out, An neal spread wide for him, opening to him easily, body gripping his fingers tight.

  Oh, such heat and tightness and need. I
t was good.

  He purred and pulled his fingers away after only a few strokes. He never has patience when it came to this, the need pushing him.

  An neal was no better, urging him on with hands and mouth and body, head falling back to expose the dark mark Feris had left on his throat. "Now. Feris. Now."

  He roared, pulling away his fingers and pushing him with his hot and hard, filling An neal so full.

  A long, low moan answered his roar, An neal's legs closing tight around him, his man's hips lifting to pull him in.

  He thrust, going deeper and deeper each time. Anneal's body was so hot, so tight. So good. Harder and harder he pushed in.

  An neal gave him everything, nails digging into his back, teeth scoring his shoulder. The sounds and scents mingled, driving him on.

  He rutted with everything he was, feeling the pleasure like a raging river gathering in his spine.

  "Please. Feris. Yes. Please." An neal begged him, breath coming short and sharp until An neal yelled, hot seed splashing between their bodies as An neal spent.

  The tight heat around him grew tighter still and he roared, filling An neal with his seed.

  He kept thrusting as the last pulses pushed from his hot and hard.

  "Oh."

  Clumsy with the release, An neal petted him, hands thumping against his back. "How I love you."

  He purred, resting against An neal and nuzzling. "Feris loves An neal."

  "Too well, perhaps, but I will not complain. Some day, Feris, we will never need go back."

  He nodded. "And then An neal will be always happy."

  "He will. For all he will need is Feris." An neal smiled at him, the lines on that much loved face fading away for a moment.

  He purred, settling happily for now. Soon they would walk again, go to the place that made An neal sad, but for right now, An neal was happy.

  ***

  The city never changed.

  The flat plains and streams of people and the imposing gates; they all remained endlessly the same. This was the third, or perhaps fourth year he had returned, and every time it looked the same.

  'Twas the fourth for him. The third for Feris. That was it. Anneal smiled to himself. He had begun to note the passing of the years as Feris did, by seasons, not a calendar. It was hard, sometimes, to remember.

  He dropped one hand to Feris' back, taking comfort in the feeling of warm fur under his fingers. Feris' head turned back, a soft growl of inquiry coming from the big cat. He smiled. "Nothing, love. 'Tis simply nerves."

  Feris rubbed against him, purring softly, tail thwapping against the backs of his legs.

  "I know. I know. We do not have to go." His Feris never truly berated him, always steadfast by his side. He gave one last stroke to the thick, thick fur before walking to the gate and announcing his business. If anything changed at all it was the guards. They were different every year.

  "Hey! You can't bring that beast in here!"

  He sighed and Feris growled, and there was an ironic symmetry to it all. "I can, I have and I will. I have business with the merchant Faolin."

  "Forget the beast, Ransot -- 'e's got the mark of the ban on 'im!"

  Another sigh, ill concealed. He lost patience with men more and more quickly these days. Feris was right. They were stupid. "I have a special writ. My name is Anneal Vere Faolin. I am here to see my father."

  "You 'ear that, Ransot? 'e says 'e 'as a writ."

  "I've got ears, don't I, Wiggin? Of course I heard him. Do you remember any writ?"

  "There was lots of 'em."

  "We'll have to check with the Gatemaster."

  "You'll 'ave to wait, Lord Special Writ and his beast."

  "Oh, for..." Anneal held Feris down with one hand. "Is Averyan still the Gatemaster?"

  Surely this needn't be so difficult. By the time these dolts let him in his day would be up.

  "Aye. That 'e is."

  "He can vouch for me." Spirits above and below. These two were a commedia.

  "Well we'll 'ave to go get 'im."

  "Only one of us can go, Wiggin."

  "What?"

  "Well if we both go, who will guard the gate?"

  "Aye, you've got a point there."

  "So who's it going to be?"

  "I don't know, Ransot, I wouldn't want to 'ave to wake 'im from 'is nap."

  Feris growled, teeth barred.

  "Perhaps I should send my companion to wake him?" Anneal was relentlessly pleasant, smiling through gritted teeth.

  A third voice sounded from the gate tower. "What's all this racket then?" Thankfully, it was Averyan.

  "They will not let me in, sir. Despite my writ. May I pass?"

  Averyan was not a kind man, but he was a sensible one. Averyan gave him a sneer. "Still keeping company with your own kind, I see." The man spat, the spittle narrowly missing him. "Let him pass, Ransot. He's to be gone again by sunset tomorrow or we get to round him up and take off his head."

  Feris growled again, the sound low and dangerous.

  He ignored it, head high as he passed through the curious traders and jeering townsfolk. His mission was no longer seeing his father. That had ceased to be his primary concern the first year Feris had come with him. Now it was about Feris, and getting out of the city as quickly as possible to be with his lover again.

  They made their way as quickly as possible through the streets, Feris close enough that he was nearly tripping over the great cat with every step he took.

  The house seemed not so imposing this time, though it had not changed. Every year it got easier, the power of his old shame less. He was loved, valued. It meant less. Only his word kept him returning. He rang the bell, waiting, Feris pressed tightly against him.

  The door was opened by yet another stranger, who looked upon him with shocked surprise.

  "Good afternoon. I am here to see my father." That look was beginning to roll right off him. Anneal was most pleased.

  "And who is your father?"

  Now it was his turn to look shocked, surely, for even a new servant should know the story. Anneal faltered, stumbling over his words. "Faolin. Faolin Vere Leyvan."

  "Well you're a little late then, aren't you? He's been dead nearly a year."

  That drove him backward a step, the breath whooshing out of his lungs at the sharp delivery of the stunning news. "Dead? I. How? My lady mother? Is she?"

  "You will have to go to the Eronet house to inquire. My Lord Lionil now owns this house and he will not take kindly to my conversing with a banned one!"

  The door closed firmly in his face, and Anneal staggered, leaning against the wall beside the door. His father dead. His family home sold. His mother back at her family's home, from the look of it. Spirits.

  Feris' muzzled nudged his hand, his fingers were licked. Those gold eyes gazed up at him.

  Anneal laughed, the sound as much a release of strong emotion as it was humor. The honorable Anneal of old would have gone to his mother, made sure she was cared for, made sure his father's business interests were continued.

  Feris' lover, the Anneal of here and now, was simply elated. "He is dead, Feris. I never need return to this place again. Ever."

  Feris purred loudly, rubbing against him.

  He laughed again, straightening away from the way and walking right back toward the gate with Feris by his side.

  A free man.

  Epilogue

  Anneal woke to the low sound of a cat purring. Obviously he was no longer alone in his cave. He cracked one eye open, and sure enough, a huge cat sat next to him, tail twitching, whiskers almost touching his nose. Anneal smiled, remembering the first time he had awakened in this very cave with this very cat staring at him.

  He had been terrified. Now he was simply warm and happy and pleased.

  "Good day to you, my Feris. Why are you not sleeping with me this fine morning?"

  Feris purred and licked his face and then slowly shifted, muzzle becoming mouth pressed against his lips. "Himself ca
ught the scent of an interloper."